Winter 2009 Out Here Magazine

New Beginnings

Mary Kay Wegener remembers the fun she had as a child in her family's large barn on their northern Iowa farm. So when she and her husband, Todd, bought their own farm, in Fenton, Iowa, which included a unique barn, Mary Kay knew that her own children would one day know the fun of such a place. She would make sure of that.

It used to be just the neighborhood kids who flocked to Mike Whitworth's garage for his homemade wooden trains. Now, kids all over the country reach out for his toys, and his Whittle Shortline Railroad toy company has become the little business that could.

Iris folding, a paper craft technique in which you fold and arrange strips of colored paper to form a picture or design, is fast becoming popular in the United States. The "swirling paper" technique can be used for several kinds of projects: greeting cards, scrapbook pages, and framed art.